Home Front: Care Package

I've been in hospital all week -as a patient-. It turns out that the ankle problems that have been keeping me from kendo training were an early symptom of a bigger issue. Löfgren's Syndrome, a form of benign sarcoidosis, which struck me heavily on Monday night in the form of heavily swollen and painful ankles, and a creeping rash on my feet and legs. Three days admitted, my first CT scan, first joint aspirate, first lung function test, first EEG, first skin punch biopsy, first broncoscopy, ultrasound guided Fine Needle lung biopsy, bronchial lavage under "twilight general anesthetic" which I woke up during. So many firsts.

Turns out that this is a rare, usually fully recoverable condition, targeting the ankles of Vikings (well, men of Scandinavian descent). Like me. Upside is that I am already responding to treatment, feel much better.

Whilst admitted I had a care package delivery of a veritable mound of Skittles, gummi bears and even some flowers and a plush coyote/dingo.

I came home to find a care package from my pals at HorNest, in Singapore, with some goodies to review:
A Mystery Ranch Mystery Cinch
A set of ITS Tactical MOLLE Sticks
A Constel pocket lantern
and a wicked HorNest patch

Reviews to follow soon!

Thanks to everyone who's supported me through this scary time, I won't loose my feet, and will be back on track some time soon.

Review: OscarDelta SPD - Deep Carry Tube

Here is the second piece in my order from the forwards thinking folks at Oscar Delta Special Projects Division. 

The DCT (Deep Carry Tube) is an airtight and waterproof container, measuring 82mm (3.25") by 20mm (externally) and 16mm (5/8") internally. Both end caps are removable soft vinyl, smooth and extremely snug to the hard tube of the body.  

The idea being that it offers a unobtrusive and subtle space to cache small sensitive or vital items. 

The ingenious folks at Oscar Delta SPD suggests it can be used to store maps, documents, emergency cash, glow sticks, matches, sewing kit, fire lighting kits, spare batteries (fits CR123A, AAA, AA batteries and a variety of button-types) and other small items. 

My SERE v-cutter shipped inside it, and since getting it, I've carried it in the bottom of my front right pocket, it barely registers, and I have no doubt of its ability as a geocaching item, or means to secrete important or sensitive materials. As the folks at Oscar Delta SPD say, "Quite simply, an item that cannot be found, cannot be taken."

Home Front: Brewing

One of the things I love doing over summer is home-brewing. Humans have been brewing for millennium, and it is a really good way to make use of simple raw materials and make something special. The fermentation process (if done well) will produce sufficient ethanol as a waste product of the yeast doing the fermenting, to kill a significant proportion of potentially disease causing microbial contaminants that may also exist in the water and produce.

Ethanol as many of you will know has a pleasing effect on the human physiology, and I heartily enjoy it, and the carbonation that can also be achieved. This is the home-brew kit that I have, (this is a similar kit, my original brand lost to antiquity). It has served me well. Honey & water mead, ginger cordial, ginger pulp & water beer, ginger beer kit beer, apple cider kits have all worked well for me, but this time I wanted to give it a go with more raw-materials.

I

I went with the $2 2L bottles of apple juice and $2 jars of apple sauce I saw at Aldi
and regular dried bakers yeast (gasp if you will, brewing aficionados, but its never done me wrong), which I "started" in half a pint-mug of warm water with 3-4 tablespoons sugar dissolved in it. I cleaned the fermenter, and all the parts, with the manufacturer approved sodium metabisulfite steriliser. Be aware, this produces a very irritating gas, and will set off asthmatics, but it does a really good job at giving a food-grade clean to your kit, bottles and also to act as a medium to fill the bubble-valve. I have also never bothered to measure the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_%28alcoholic_beverage%29of the mixture I am brewing with, to determine the fermentation end point and to calculate the alcohol content, preferring a more rustic "it stopped bubbling much, and tastes good" method. Not very scientific, but in this instance, I depart from my scientific training as a microbiologist, and go with the spirits of my ancestors. Once it is done, I'll be bottling it in the recycled Grolsche bottles that I've been collecting for years.

Review: Oscar Delta - SERE V cutter

My good pal Spencer of SAR Global Tool send me a link to a some buddies of his, who are stocking his SOLAS Dog Tag Signal Device I also reviewed while back. So I headed over to their site and checked them out.

That company was Oscar Delta SPD, based out of the UK and they specialise in products to aid and assist in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape .
This little piece is the SERE Black Ops "V" Cutter.


It is a wearable, lightweight cutting piece that can be worn on or around the body, around the neck, attached to keys,
concealed in your boots (OscarDelta SPD suggest in the top lace hole). OscarDelta SPD make a paracord survival bracelet which includes an elastic sheath to secure and hide the cutter.

At only 3g, this is an ultralight tool, and measures only 5cm x 1.3cm x 0.5mm. The cutting edges of the tool are formed by two razor blades riveted into a V shape to the steel body. 

 Even though it it light, the two blades are reported to cut webbing, seat-belts, seven strands of 550 paracord, duct tape, cable tie plasti-cuffs. This is not a hardened and toughened tool like the Gerber strap cutter but it doesn't have to be, this is a bare-bones escape tool. 

To use the cutter, being so small, it is positioned over the cord or strapping to be cut and pulled through using the lanyard hole and the supplied cord. It is too small a tool to really get much purchase on by itself, but any cord, or a keyring will do. 



I found that after some cutting, a number of fibers jammed between the cutting edges and pried them open a little. Being razor thin, this is inevitable, as the steel flexes. 

This isn't an every-day tool, but it is what it is, a secret escape tool, and I have no doubts as to its ability in that circumstance. 

Wish-Lust: ITS Skeletonised Bottle Holder

A while back ITS Tactical (of which I am a subscribed "Crew Leader", always glad to support a forward thinking group like these folks) posted their trial launch of a new product that really caught my eye. In a recent newsletter and subsequent posts they have announced that their ITS skeletonized bottle holder is now on general sale! I'm hoping that my contacts at HorNest will get some in...

Here's what ITS have to say about it:

• Lightweight Skeletonized Construction Weighs 2.7 Ounces!
• Double Layered Webbing with Strategically Reinforced HDPE
• Slipnot Textured Pull-Tab for Non-Slip Grip
• Adjustable 1/8" Shock Cord for Multiple Bottle Neck Sizes
• Three Levels of Height Adjustment for Multiple Container Sizes
• True One-Handed Container Deployment
• MOLLE/PALS Attachment Also Adaptable to Various Belt Sizes
• Color Matched Webbing and Loop
• Available in MultiCam, Coyote Brown and Black
• Hand Made in the USA using American Materials and Labor

MOLLE and belt compatable, adjustable to fit a variety of bottle sizes and shapes, with three points of adjustable shock-cord attachment, the ability to sling your bottle upside-down and bombproof construction. Whats not to like?


So, another collaboration between ITS Tactical and Zulu Nylon Gear, much like their also very cool (and wish-lustful) ETA Trauma kit. I have already commented on how much I like and am pleased with the Zulu Nylon Gear CAOS Admin pouch and the really cool MOLLE car visor sock, but this bottle bolder really appeals as well. I've been very happy with my Platatac FUP pouch, to hold my 1L SIGG bottle, but this is a purpose built piece, and is totally wish-lustable.

Review: SparxGear - Fire Piston

This is a very interesting item I backed through Kickstarter, and is a modern take on the Fire Piston, which is to say, a means of igniting tinder without spark or friction, but rather by rapid compression of air. The principle is that when a well-sealed piston is driven into a cylinder, with a portion of tinder at its tip, the rapid compression of air will drive the temperature of the space at the end of the piston to around 260°C (500°F). This is sufficient to ignite tinder, and you can use it to light a fire.

Eric Gilger started his Kickstarter to build a fire-piston, and I was all for it. The SparkxGear piston is the fire piston is 15cm (5 5/8") long with a 1.6cm (5/8") diameter. It weighs around 65g (2.25 oz) but the weight can vary slightly with additional slot rods, tinder and O-rings held in the storage capsules. There are three slots cut into the side which hose a magnesium (for emergency, thermite tinder), a Ferrocerium rod and a steel rod (fire-steel). The rods are kept in place by the pressure release-valve plug, at one end, which features a storage compartment (for tinder and replacement o-rings for the piston seal). The piston also has one of these compartments in its tip as well.

The piston is operated by placing some tinder (a supply of charcloth is provided) into the cup at the end of the piston, and, once the pressure release-valve end is tightened, and the piston seated, the piston-rod is driven into the shaft, and withdrawn rapidly, to ignite the tinder. This is trickier than it sounds, and I took a long time to get it right. Some lube on the shaft is needed, as its a really tight fit, the whole piece is very well engineered.

But here are a couple of shots of my ignited tinder, gently glowing, and flaring when blown upon, ready for sparkless fire-starting! This is a really cool piece of kit, but one that requires some significant practice to be dependable.The added magnesium, ferrocerium and steel rods, as well as the additional in-cap storage really makes the piece special, a lot of thought was put into these, and I will be looking out for Eric's next projects avidly.

Video Review: United Cutlery M48 RangerHawk

This is me testing out the United Cutlery M48 Rangerhawk which I reviewed recently.

Hope you enjoy watching me chopping, piercing and hacking!

Click image to go to Think Geek's store